Samuel p



' (No Model.)

B. SMITH. MACHINE FOR OBTAINING FIBERS, 8w.

Patented Ma Wbaeseaf N PETERS. Whom-lithograph. Washington. DJ.

ENITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL P. SMITH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MACHINE FOR OBTAINING FIBERS, 840.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No 276,915, dated May 1, 1883. Application filed September 1!), 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, SAMUEL P. SMITH, of the city and county of New York,in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Obtaining Fibers and for other Purposes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention, although more particularly intended for working or operating upon fiberbearing leaves,,stalks, and other vegetable matters to obtain fibers, may be applied for the softening of fibers previously obtained, for obtaining fibers from asbestus, and for the reduction of other substances, both vegetable and mineral.

. The invention relates to-such machines as comprise a stationary concave or arc-shaped bed and a drum or cylinder arranged therein and adapted to be operated to exert a rubbing action on the matters or substances introduced between it and the concave or bed, and to carry such matters or substances from the point where they are introduced to the delivery side of the machine. In one kind of machine of this class the cylinder or drum has had imparted to it an alternate or reciprocating rotary motion which is greater in one direction than the other, and the result of which is a progressive rotary motion in one direction for carrying the mattersto be operated upon through the machine, and in another machine of this class the cylinder or drum has a slow rotary motion continuously in .one direction for carrying the matters to be operated upon through the machine, and a longitudinal reciprocating movement or end chase forrubbing the matters or substances. Neither 0e the above-described machines are of my invention, and therefore I make no claim to them; but I have discovered that a machine the cylinder or drum of which has imparted to it. both the reciprocating rotary motion greater in one y direction than in the other and. the longitudinal movement or end chase is very eiiective in its operation; and my invention consists in the combination of a bed, semicircular or arcshaped, or of other concave transverse section,

and a cylinder or drum arrangedthereimand having an alternate or reciprocating rotary motion greater in one direction than the other y E designates a feed-table and a longitudinal movement or end chase,.as more fully hereinafter described.

The inventionalso consists in a novel com bination of parts for imparting to the cylinder or drum the desired reciprocating rotary motion and the longitudinalmovement or end chase.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents an elevation of machine embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 represents a partly-sectional plan thereof.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in both figures.

A A designate the frame of the machine, and B designates a tank arranged therein, and provided with an overflow, B.

G designatesthe cylinder or drum, and D designates the concave or arc-shaped bed. The cylinder or drum 0 may consist of a metal skeleton body, or of two or more drums or wheels and a covering of slats or staves of i metal, hard wood, or other material, extending lengthwise thereof, and it has its surface grooved, fluted, ribbed, ridged, or otherwise suitably constructed or roughened.

C designates the cylinder shaft, supported in bearings a. which are pressed down by india-rubber blocks 0 or other springs in housings b. The said springs may be adjusted by screws d. The bearings a permit of the cylindyer-shaft G" turning freely therein, and also being moved or reciprocated lengthwise.

The bed -D is represented as composed of sections, bars, or staves having their surfaces fluted, grooved, ribbed, ridged, or otherwise suitably constructed or roughened, and made of metal, hard wood, or other suitable material. The said sections, bars, or staves are supported at the ends on flanges or bearingstrips 0, of india-rubber, inserted in grooves in the tank B. This method of supporting the bed and the provision of springs above the bearing of the cylinder or drum shaft enable the bed and cylinder to yield slightly in opposite directions.

of the machine.

The cylinder or drum is arranged slightly eccentric to the bed, so that the space between them. on the side of the feed-table is wider than i 99 placed at one side at the other side,where the fibers are delivered; and the last section, bar, or stave, a, of the concave or bed on the delivery side may have its grooves or flutes smaller and nearer together than the grooves or flutes in the other sections, as shown in Fig. 1. The cylinder or drum G is also provided with circumferential grooves 61, as shown in Fig. 2.

Upon the shaft 0, between the portions A A of the frame, are arranged a gear-wheel, F, two arms, G, and sleeves e, which hold the said wheel in proper position between the arms. The wheel is provided with a feather, 0 which tits in a groove, 6 in the shaft, and thus locks the shaft to the wheel, so as to cause it to rotate therewith, butpermits the shaft to be moved longitudinally through the wheel-hub.

The arms Gr swing loosely on the shaft 0, and

carry at their lower ends a short shaft, f, on which is secured a pinion,f, whichgears with the wheel F, and also carrying a wheel, H.-

I designates a driving-shaft, and I Pdriving-pulleys thereon. The shalt I' carries a crank-disk, l in which is a long wrist-pin, g, the revolutions of which produce a reciprocating motion of thesnaftf, pinion f, and arms G through pitman-rods J, which are connected together by a pin, h, as shown in Fig. 2. On said pin it is a wheel, K, gearing with the wheel H, and a pinion, t, on the wrist-pin g. Rotarymotion is constantly transmitted in one direction through the wheels K H to the pinion f; but the cylinder, instead of being rotated in one direction continuously,will be rotated alternately in opposite directions, for the movement of the pinionf by the crank gin one direction will accelerate the rotary motion of the wheel F and cylinder or drum 0, and the reverse movement of. the pinion will produce a retardation of the wheel and cylinder, and the latter will have a rotary movement alternately in opposite directions; but as the motion is greater in one direction, the cylinder will havea progressive movement in one direction, which will carry materials forward between it and'tbe bed, and finally deliver them. With the gearing here shown the cylinder or drum would have a forward movementof about fifteen inches and a backward movement of about twelve inches, thus imparting to the material under operation a progressive movement of about threeinches at each turn of the crank 1 L designates a lever, fulcrumed at j at the end of the machine opposite the driving-gearingjust described. One end of the lever L is forked to engage with a cam, L, on the driving-shaft I, and the other end is forked and engages with a grooved collar, 0 on the shaft 0. By this mechanism the cylinder has imparted to .it a reciprocating movement or end chase backward and forward at each turn of the shaft I; but this reciprocating movement might be imparted to it by other mechanism.

The extraneous matters separated from the fibers maypass out between the sections of the bed or concave D, or the same may be perforated for a like purpose.

This machine may be employed either for treating green or dry materials, and with or without water or chemical solution in the tank, for separating from fibers the extraneous matters, or for treatin g fibers which have been previously obtained in a green or dry state, and with or without water or chemical sol ution, for the purpose of softening them. The machine may also be employed for treating asbestus to separate the fibers thereof.

Although the invention is principally intended for obtaining or treating fibers, it may be embodied in machines for making wood pulp, for reducing or pulverizing mineral ores oriron slag or other metallic substances, and generally for reducing, pulverizing, washing, rubbing, or separating various other substances, either vegetable or mineral.

The term cylinder, as here employed, is not confined to a true cylinder, for, instead of being a true cylinder, it may be conical, barrel-shaped, or of other desirable form having a circular transverse section, the bed or concave of course being of corresponding shape.

In lieu of making the machine with its bed and cylinder in horizontal planes, the machine might be so arranged that the bed and oylin- 9 der would be upright or inclined at any desired angle.

I do not claim herein the invention shown and claimed in Letters Patent No. 265,154, granted Gelston Sanford, September 26, 1882. 4 What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

V l. The combination of a bed of semicircular, arc-shaped, or other concave transverse section, and a cylinder or drum arranged therein and having an alternate or reciprocating rotary motion greater in one direction than the other, and also having a longitudinal movement or end chase, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

2. The combination of the bed D, the cylinder 0 and its shaft C, the wheel F, mounted on said shaft, and through which said shaft may slide, the arms G, the shaft f, pinion f,

its pin g, the pinion i, the pitman-rods J and wheel K, the lever L, cam L, and collar jsubstan tiall y as described.

SAMUEL P. SMITH.

Witnesses: f

FREDK. HAYNES, ED. L. MORAN. 

